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Buddha and Moses As Primordial Saints: a New Typology of Parallel

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Buddha and Moses As Primordial Saints: a New Typology of Parallel Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 3-25-2009 Buddha and Moses as primordial saints: a new typology of parallel sainthoods derived from Pali Buddhism and Judaism Upananda Thero Dedunupitiye Florida International University DOI: 10.25148/etd.FI14062231 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Part of the Buddhist Studies Commons, and the Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons Recommended Citation Dedunupitiye, Upananda Thero, "Buddha and Moses as primordial saints: a new typology of parallel sainthoods derived from Pali Buddhism and Judaism" (2009). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2761. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/2761 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FRORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida BUDDHA AND MOSES AS PRIMORDIAL SAINTS: A NEW TYPOLOGY OF PARALLEL SAINTHOODS DERIVED FROM PALI BUDDHISM AND JUDAISM A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in RELIGIOUS STUDIES by Upananda Thero Dedunupitiye 2009 To: Dean Kenneth Furton College of Arts and Sciences This thesis, written by Upananda Thero Dedunupitiye, and entitled Buddha and Moses as Primordial Saints: A New Typology of Parallel Sainthoods Derived from Pali Buddhism and Judaism, having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. We have read this thesis and recommend that it be approved. Oren Baruch Stier Albert Wuaku Nathan Katz, Major Professor Date of Defense: March 25, 2009 The thesis of Upananda Thero Dedunupitiye is approved. Dean Kenneth Furton College of Arts and Sciences Dean George Walker University Graduate School Florida International University, 2009 ii Copyright 2009 by Upananda Thero Dedunupitiye All rights reserved. iii DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my late father, Udalagama Walawwe Seneviratna Udalagama, late mother, Podimenike Wijekoon Udalagama, late preceptor, the Right Reverend Wahakula Sri Somananda Mahathera, and to my monastic guru, the Right Reverend Kariyagama Gunananda Mahathera, who taught me the way to live my life. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I deeply thank the members of my MA thesis committee, Dr. Nathan Katz, Dr. Oren Baruch Stier and Dr. Albert Wuaku, and Head of the FlU Department of Religious Studies, Dr. Christine Gudorf, the Department Secretary, Mrs. Mireille Sylvain-David, and Miss. Liz Perez, Technical Assistant and Assistant Secretary to the FlU Department of Religious Studies, for their compassion, caring, guidance and for being a great source of encouragement. I express my deepest gratitude to Florida International University for granting me an invaluable opportunity to accomplish a goal in my academic life, which I had always dreamt of. Last but not least, I express my deepest thanks and gratitude to the Reverend Sudarshana Peliyagoda, Abbess of Samadhi Buddhist Meditation Center, Pinellas Park, Florida, and Mrs. Huey Adams of Clearwater, Florida, who are my immigration and financial sponsors in the United States. v ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS BUDDHA AND MOSES AS PRIMORDIAL SAINTS: A NEW TYPOLOGY OF PARALLEL SAINTHOODS DERIVED FROM PALI BUDDHISM AND JUDAISM by Upananda Thero Dedunupitiye Florida International University, 2009 Miami, Florida Professor Nathan Katz, Major Professor Comparative studies in sainthood in world religions, especially Pali Buddhism and Judaism has been a substantial component of my academic interests. Constructed out of my research findings the new typology of sainthood lays emphasis on the fact the two religions have a common universal pattern of sainthood, hence parallel sainthoods. My research concludes that Siddhartha the Buddha and Moses the Prophet as primordial saints, as saintliness as a human quality in Pali Buddhism and Judaism originates from these personalities. Any other successive types of sainthood in the said religious traditions are derived from the main type, the primordial sainthood. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE INTRODUCTION ....................................................................... 1 .LINKED FOCI AND SAINTOHOOD IN THE PERIPHERY ........................................................................... 7 The Linked Foci 7.......................................................................7 Sainthood in the Periphery ............................................................ 11 2.THE THORETICAL APPROACH ......... ................................ 14 The Orien list/Eurocentric Scholarship on Pali Buddhism ...................... 14 3.T HE, TYPOLOGY .................................................................. 24 The Typology .................................................................. 25 The Source Languages 26..........................................................2 The Pali terms and their Etymology .............................................. 26 Comparative Terminology ............................................................ 2 Siddhartha the Buddha and Moses the Prophet: The Comparative Case ...................................................................... 29 Successive Sainthoods of Pali Buddhism ......................................... 32 Successive Sainthoods of Judaism ................................................... 37 CONCLUSION ........................................................................ 43 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................. ........................... ..................45 vii INTRODUCTION The research project, titled "Buddha and Moses as Primordial Saints: A New Typology of Parallel Sainthoods Derived from Pali Buddhism and Judaism," conte lizes the Buddha of Pali Buddhism as the "Priordial Buddhist Saint," ad identifies Moses of Judaism as the "Primordial Jewish Saint" in comparison with the Buddha. The study contextualizes Buddha and Moses as the "first-ever saints" of the religions they belong to. The term "primordial" in this study strictly means "first-ever." Buddha and Moses are "primordial saints" as they have "pioneered" sainthood in their respective religions. The study is limited to Buddha as depicted in Pali Buddhism, and to Moses in Judaism. These two religious personalities are also depicted in other Buddhist traditions and other Abrahamic religions, i.e. Christianity and Islam. Here, I would like to explain my thesis argument of primordial sainthood. I argue that sainthood is essentially a human characteristic. Of the Abrahamic religions', the Christian religion has the richest tradition of sainthood. In Christian religion, all the saints are human beings beatified by the Pope, who is a human agent of God. Individuals as well as different denominations of this religion have patron saints that are said to bless and protect the believers. Even though Christian saints are considered divine, fundamentally they were human beings before their elevation to sainthood. Judaism, Christianity and Islam are the Abrahamic religions, as all of them accept the idea that Abraham is the forefather of chosen people. 1 The study seeks to explain the nature of primordial sainthood in the context of Pali Buddhism and Judaism. I will give a brief history of modern scholarship on sainthoods in the religious traditions involved, because it provides my study with background knowledge that I find necessary in order to contextualize the idea of primordial saint. In order to avoid repetition, an in-depth description of the background to sainthood is not given here. It will be discussed at length throughout the study. A clarification of my thesis argument on primordial saint is necessary here, as the primordial saint is a new concept. The concept of sainthood in world religions is complex in definition and character, due to the fact that sainthood varies from religion to religion. Derived from the Latin word, "Sanctus" meaning "holy, consecrated," the te "saint" connotes "holy person."2 A holy person is one who serves as an exemplar of virtue and embodiment of sacred power, for instance, an Arahant in Buddhism, and a Zaddik in Judaism. The holy person lives according to the highest ideals of a religious tradition. Such life might involve rigorous asceticism, profound exposition of doctrine, prophetic or mystical experience, or martyrdom. The result of such a life is the achievement of the ultimate goal as defined by that tradition, such as salvation for a Jew or Nirvana for a Buddhist. In Pali Buddhism, the Buddha is a human being, who appears after the destruction of each cycle of human civilization, and guides humanity towards salvation. Unless he manifests, the path to salvation is nowhere to be discovered. In Judaism, the salvation of 2Jonathan Smith, The Ha erCollins Dictionary of Religion, ed. William S. Green (New York: Harper San Francisco, 1998) pg. 461. 2 human beings depends on God. In theistic religions like Judaism, it is always a human being who is chosen by God to give the Revelation. Moses is the chosen individual in Judaism. On the human level, therefore, Moses is the first human being to hear, record and pass down the revelation to future revelation. In both religions, therefore, the human personalities of Buddha and Moses have pioneered the path of salvation on human level. Because of this role, I define Buddha and Moses
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